They’re getting a Hostess-goes-bankrupt-level of coverage right now… at least in the men’s style web-community. Here are what most would consider the known knowns at post time:

Style: They’re offering four basic styles (Chukka, wingtip, longwing, basic derby) in a few different colors for each. Any of these pairs costs $79. They’re basic, but for eighty bucks there’s some solid potential here. Leather on the longwings looks… interesting.

Timeline: This is a pre-order. Earliest they’ll ship is January 15th 2013.

Substance: They state their shoes are made from ” 100% genuine full-grain” leather. No word on how the sole of the shoe is attached to the top, but at this price, c’mon…

Location: They say they’re incorporated in Miami, logistics and the warehouse are in LA, and manufacturing is happening at least in part (if not all?) in Colombia.

So there’s a good batch of “known knowns”. The monetary risk seems relatively low thanks to the free shipping & returns, but hanging $79 out in late November for shoes that’ll show in mid to late January seems like a long time.

So would you? Or are those sneaky unknowns going to keep you away? Got a pair of the Bailey Chukka’s in brown Nubuck on the way for testing. But again… ETA isn’t till after the holidays. Leave your take in the comments below.

Brown Nubuck chukkas for $79? The Achilles strip won’t appeal to all, but they’re on the way for an in-person.

Comments

It’s a shame they apparently put the back strip on all of the models except for the wingtip. I would consider trying to the light brown wingtip if I was in the market, but the strip makes the other models a little too trendy for me.

Free returns so at least you get to have them in your hands and on your feet to see if you like them.
The contrasting strip is a deal breaker on some of the shoes (i don’t mind the strip in near-similar tones). Hell, a lot of us here don’t even like a small logo on our shirts so that strip will make a tough sell

I have to say no go for me. It’s tempting, but most credit cards only let you dispute charges 60 days out, and these would likely fall out of that. Further, by checking online deals, you can usually get shoes of this quality with some luck. I got a pair of Ben Sherman chukkas for about $60 earlier this year.

I’m not worried about the rubber soles, my Clarks have rubber soles and have lasted years. However, take a look at those heels–only a thin strip of rubber glued to the wood stacked heel. Once you wear through those rubber heels (only a centimeter-thick) you’ll be walking on hard wood–worse than rubber. If the heel was all rubber-then yes I’d buy

I don’t mind the rubber soles, sometimes they last even longer than the leather ones. Plus, cobblers are unlikely to re-sole rubber-soled shoes, so the main
benefit when you pay $250 for a pair of goodyear-welted rubber shoe (like re-soling) is non-existent. Resoling at least here in Cambridge is above $50. So For just $79 these look like a great alternative to McNairy’s and virtually any
other high quality expensive rubber-soled shoe. And fee returns? C’mon, can’t hurt (unless you are lazy).

I’ve owned a pair of the Merona Chukkas for a few months, and these are not the same soles. Those were a solid ‘foam’ sole, and the tread is nearly gone in the ball of my pair. Hopefully these are a bit better, I think I’ll try replacing my Merona’s with these.

I don’t know about the Full Grainness of them. In the description it says “Smooth Leather Upper” then it goes on to say “Full-grain leather trim in the rear”. Why the different wording if the whole shoe is full grain? Unless they want to distinguish between pebble vs smooth.

FWIW…many women’s shoe companies operate under this model with both great quality and success, I had been wondering when it would transfer into the mens shoe world. I might have to pull the trigger on a pair of these…

A guy at reddit contacted them and was told that the construction was “Bondwelt.” Nobody’s quite sure what that means, but I expect it means that they’re cemented, not stitched. Which everyone expected for $79.

Right – o. I saw no halvies and was like…naw. Plus not having a phone number listed just gives me some heebie-jeebies… The final straw for me is the thin rubber soles. I have pronating feet so they would wear out massively fast…

Their response to my Email: “They can certainly be resoled but in my experience cobblers are not very likely to resole rubber-soled shoes. It’s up to them, technically it’s possible but no all cobblers will do the job. Anyways, our soles are made of high density rubber, they are both durable and dependable. Not to mention lightweight and flexible. I’m sure you will love them and will last for years. The one part that can get really worn out after long term use is the tip on the stacked wooden heel, this little piece can be replaced by virtually any cobbler at a small price.”

I must admit burgundy wingtip and brown/oxblood longwing are pretty good looking shoes on the website. That said I think shoes are really the one part of my wardrobe I don’t want to skimp on. You don’t outgrow them. If you stay conservative they don’t go out of style. High quality shoes/boots can last 10 years +. Might be a great place to pick up a shoe you know you want but won’t be wearing a lot. For me that would be a very dressy black shoe which they don’t seem to have.

On the merits of the mention in this website and Primer, I took a chance on the Beckett Simonon brogues… and I can state firmly they are in no way worth the money. The leather is very thin, the soles look fine on the website but in reality look like pencil erasers, and the stitching in general looks cheap. After one wear – yes, I failed to read the return policy – they already look shabby and although they felt nice out of the box, by the end of the day they felt oddly molded. If I could return them I would, but in general I don’t see why you would pay 80$ for these shoes when you can find something that will last much longer and look nicer for a little more cash.

Not the best customer service. Ordered some shoes over a month ago and still no information on a refund or return shipping address. I received one reply from one of the owners after I replied to an email asking me to give them a nice review. He assured me I would be receiving a return UPS sticker in the mail within a week. I had sent several emails asking to return the shoes prior to this. They brag on their website about free returns. I don’t care about the free return. I will pay the return shipping just give me an address so I can return these shoes that don’t fit my feet and move on.
I suggest Beckett Simonon hire some more employees to check email and handle some basic customer service.
I ordered these based on a (good) review of Beckett Simonon. I guess I should have researched further (lessons learned). Glad I did not order a second pair expecting these to be refunded in the meantime. Will be ordering from a different company to find some wedding shoes.

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